I've been going to Malta and Gozo for over twenty years so you could say I'm keen. Initially I just went as a tourist, but in 1997 got into diving. I have used several different dive shops in the islands. My favourite is Subway in Bugibba, who win the prize because of their overall helpfulness. Compared to England, the diving in Malta is warm and generally safe. There are two distinct types of dive in Malta:- Wreck and Scenic and ,rather cleverly, new wrecks have been placed where the scenery is not at its best. My favourite wreck is Um El Faroud, a large oil tanker sitting upright in 35 metres just near the Blue Grotto. For scenery I like the caves of Ghar Lapsi which are very light because the shafts go up as well as across. (See my reviews of individual sites on Divesitedirectory.) When making travel arrangements I usually search the internet for a half board package at the north end of the island and hire a car rather than pay for transfers. You can't rely on the star system for hotels as it seems to relate to the level of pretentiousness of the hotel rather than the quality of service. I have always been quite lucky and have stayed in places where the food or accomodation was excellent but haven't found anywhere that did both. The Maltese people, though initially introverted to English eyes, are invariably friendly, helpful, and enthusiastic. The pace of life is very laid back and things tend to be rather old fashioned. Time never seems to be an issue except for drivers who must go flat out at all times. Try to avoid driving in the rain. There's not much of a clubbing scene on the islands except for Paceville which is very noisy indeed even in winter. Great if you like that sort of thing.
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Hi Welcome to ciao.
For a review of the Maltese divesites you say very little about them, it would be much more helpful to know the best times of year to travel, more specifics about the dive sites (other than mentioning another website - which is against ciao rules - dont not promote other sites), the range of depths, what kind of marine life you might expect to see, rough temperature estimates, suitability for what levels of expericence. So I'm afriad for me your review really hasnt helped me at all as I feel I know no more now that I did prior to reading about the Maltese divesites.Sorry Scuba xx
n13roy 19.05.2007 10:30
Yes, diving is indeed a brilliant ( if very expensive ) Sport indeed, sounds as if you really enjoy it here too.........Roy.......
klofron 19.05.2007 10:19
Good review - I know what you mean about the Hotel Star system.
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Advantages: Being an island there's almost always a dive available whatever the weather. Disadvantages: Very heavily dived and not enough attention to conservation.
petehall 09.01.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Malta (Dive Sites)
May 19th, 2007
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